HarperFiction commissioning editor Amy McCulloch and Erika Tsang from HarperCollins in the US have pre-empted World English language rights to The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire, and a sequel, by 17-year-old online sensation and debut novelist Abigail Gibbs, from Scott Mendel at Mendel Media Group, LLC, for a significant six figure sum.

Abigail is a phenomenon online, publishing The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire serially on writing website Wattpad since she was 15-years-old. To date, it has been read over seventeen million times. She has a global following, with readers all over the world who have become fans of her characters as well as of their creator. There is already an enthusiastic online subculture of devotees to Violet, Kaspar and Fabian.

The Dark Heroine follows the feisty 18-year-old Violet Lee as she is swept into a glittering world of extravagance and luxury, but all the riches of the world can't hide the darkness underneath – embodied in the charismatic but dangerous Kaspar Varn.

To satisfy the desire for this fabulous book, HarperFiction are releasing the ebook on 13 September 2012, with a beautiful paperback edition following on 25 October 2012.

Amy McCulloch says: "When I first read The Dark Heroine, I was swept away by the romance between Violet and Kaspar, through the strength of Abigail's writing. The Dark Heroine is feisty, fast-paced and racy – no wonder it has already acquired such a voracious fan base online, and I can't wait to see that translate to an even wider audience. Move over Edward Cullen and Christian Grey, the newest dark sex symbol in town is Kasper Varn!"

Erika Tsang says: "From the first page to the last, I was completely blown away by this world of love, lust and vampires, and so captivated by the relationship between Violet and Kasper...though I could've been persuaded to join Team Fabian."

Abigail Gibbs says: "From first picking up a pen to writing online on wattpad.com, I have always aspired to see my work in print and I feel extremely privileged to have such an enthusiastic and supportive team behind The Dark Heroine at HarperCollins. I hope my experience as a teenage writer will inspire young people everywhere to develop the craft, even in the face of pesky distractions like school!"

About the author: Abigail Gibbs was born and raised in deepest, darkest Devon. She is about to start studying for a BA in English at the University of Oxford and considers herself a professional student, as the real world is yet to catch up with her. Her greatest fear is blood and she is a great advocate of vegetarianism, which logically led to the writing of her first novel, Dinner With A Vampire. At age fifteen, she began posting serially online under the pseudonym Canse12, and after three years in the internet limelight, set her sights towards total world domination. She splits her time between her studies, stories and family, and uses coffee to survive all three.

Issued by: Elizabeth Dawson

PR Director, HarperFiction

Elizabeth,dawson@harpercollins.co.uk T: 020 8307 4412

Note to Editors:

Wattpad is the world's largest community of readers and writers. It's a free and fun way to discover and share stories online. Wattpad enables millions of people to find great fiction and share their own creative writing. Writers have the potential to build fan bases made up of thousands of followers and many see over ten million reads of their stories; some have been discovered and signed by publishers while others have had work optioned for TV and film.

Find over six million stories on Wattpad—spanning all genres of creative writing, including mystery, romance, sci-fi, poetry and fan fiction. www.wattpad.com

•10 Million monthly unique users

•2.2 Billion minutes spent on Wattpad in July 2012,

•70% of usage coming from mobile (phones + tablets)

•6 Million stories uploaded to date

•750,000 new stories uploaded each month

•2 comments posted every second

Allen Lau, CEO of Wattpad says: "We are incredibly excited for Abbie and proud of her success. She's been with Wattpad since the early days and to see her achieve her dream proves the power of our platform. She has connected with readers from all over the world and we're glad to be a part of her story."

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